Literacy walk around the Kindergarten

A comprehensive design of a literacy rich environment which illustrates how educators can provide young children with a quality learning environment using the free and accessible resources located within their immediate and surrounding environments.

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Transcript of Literacy walk around the Kindergarten

Focus QuestionsDoes anyone come to school or go home from schoolon the bus?Has anyone used a bus when they have gone to Perth?This sign is at the front of this bus stop, what do youthink this sign is telling us?There is a picture of a hand here, what do you thinkthis picture is telling us?Are these numbers or letters? (pointing to numbers)Can anyone see a number that they know? Product Process Children explore the environmental print with peers and more knowledgeable others. Children use dialogue to discuss and interpret the meaning of the environmental print with peers and more knowledgeable others.Children use this literacy rich environment to draw on their existing knowledge and experiences with environmental print and to demonstrate this knowledge.Children actively participate in their own learning and the adults' roles are to scaffold the emergent literacy skills of the young children. Children identify the role that words, letters, numerals, and symbols play in environmental print (Goodman, 1986, as cited in Neumann, Hood, Ford & Neumann, 2012).Children who are active participants in a literacy and language rich environment, such as this, affords them the understanding that language, both written and oral, has a purpose and function within their own lives and within their community and culture (Khoury, 2011).Experience with such a rich literacy environment allows children to personally and meaningfully see the connection literacy has to their own everyday lives(Khoury, 2011). Through meaningful exposure to environmental print, children develop logographic reading, which allows children to use graphic and contextual cues which may not be fostered through conventional reading of text in books (Neumann et al., 2012). Exposure to environmental print also facilitates the development of conventional reading in which letter-sound decoding skills are fostered (Neumann et al., 2012). As a result of such a rich literacy environment, the emergent literacy skills of young children are fostered which lays the foundation for future academic success (Neumann et al., 2012). Literacy Walk Creating a meaningful literacy rich environment for all children aged four to five years. Focus QuestionsDoes anyone know why there is a red circle with a line going across this picture?What do you think this sign is telling people?Do you think it is important to read this sign and follow the instructions this sign is giving?What do you think might happen if people don't read this sign?Can you see any letters here that you know?What sound does this first letter make (pointing to E)Do you know what sound this letter makes (point to each letter) Focus QuestionsWhat do you think this sign is telling us?What do you think these numbers are telling us?Do you think this sign is a way of giving people rules to follow?Who do you think needs to follow these rules? People driving cars or people using the footpath?Can you see any letters or numbers that you know?Why do you think there is this bright orange colour up at the top of this sign?Have you seen any other signs on the road that have numbers inside a red circle? Do you think those signs tell people the same thing as this sign?Can you see the letters AM after the number 9? Does anyone know what AM means?Can you see the letters PM after the number 4? Does anyone know what PM means? Focus QuestionsDoes anyone see any letters that they know?Can you see a letter here that is in your name or one of your friend's name?Does anyone know what sound this letter makes? Does anyone know what we call this letter?Does anyone know why these letters are up here on the fence? What do you think this is telling people? Are they just letters or do you think the letters spell words that people can read? Focus QuestionsWho knows what this sign is?Do you think every street has a name?Does anyone know the name of the street they live on?Why do you think we have street names?Who do you think uses these street name signs?Do you think the postman would use these street name signs?Can you see the letters RD at the end of the sign? Does anyone know what RDmeans on a street sign?If you have a look on the other street name sign, you can see ST at the end. Does anyone know what ST means on a street sign?What sound does the first letter make of this street name? (go through other letter sounds) References

Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. (2009). Retrieved from http://deewr.gov.au/early-years-learning-framework

Vialle, W., Lysaght, P., & Verenikina, I. (2008). Handbook on child development (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning Australia This literacy rich environment has been designed to provide children aged four to five years with a quality learning experience which promotes the achievement of set learning outcomes for all children, as idenitified by the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (2009). This literacy rich environment has also been designed based on the principles of the sociocultural theory which views learning as always being a social process through interactions with people and exposure to, and experience with, cultural artefacts (Vialle, Lysaght & Verenikina, 2008). Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators.

Learning Outcome: Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts.

Children will;-View and listen to printed and visual texts in the environment and respond with relevant gestures, actions, comments and or questions.-Explore environmental texts from a range of different perspectives and begin to analyse the meanings.- Actively use, engage with, and share the enjoyment of language and texts through recipricol dialogue and whole group collaboration to create an informative story book about environmental texts.

Time: 9 am - 10.30 am. A total time of two hours will be allocated to this walk to ensure ample time is provided for childrens' inquiries and recipricol dialogue to be carried out.

Supervision: Educator, education assistant, two parenthelpers.

Considerations: Children will need to wear a hat, sunscreen, and appropriate footwear.Parental permission given prior to walk.Parent helpers need to be arranged.

Resources: Camera, education assistant, 2 parent helpers, parental permission note. Extension of learning experience Children will work collaboratively to make a classroom book which includes a photograph of each sign with a description of each sign's meaning based on the childrens' perspectives.

Environmental print, such as stop signs, will be provided in the outdoor play environment for children to use whilst playing with tricycles, or to use as props in their play themes.

Children will consider the function and design of the environmental print they observed on the walk to design their own sign in which children will provide an explanation of their sign's function.